


For The Greater Good

by pandabrite



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, F/F, F/M, Found Family, In which all the main characters get superpowers, Julia and Keats are mentioned but they're both deceased, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character(s), Pining, The OCs are just to flesh out spaces where there aren't enough Canon characters, There's some romance here too babey it's the whole package, Twu Wuv, slowburn, there's just a Lot happening here, woohoo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-02 01:07:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16295384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandabrite/pseuds/pandabrite
Summary: In this world, there are regular people, and then there are Extraordinary People. The problem is, no one wants to see or hear about those extraordinary people. Who would want to, given the destruction they leave in their wake? Who would think them extraordinary at all considering the absolutely obliterated town of Phandalin, the destroyed worker's haven of Raven's Roost, the lost town of Refuge, the City of Glamour Springs, which somehow, everyone forgot.Neverwinter's King has fallen, and now the charismatic and pragmatic John has taken the City under his wing. He promises to bring order to a chaotic world. He'll make Supers follow his rules, quell their destruction, and eliminate those who would choose to do harm to the world. Yet through his words, through his lofty promises, no one can see the dark cloud that follows at John's footsteps, that hangs over the city of Neverwinter in cold premonition.... No one except for a group of Seven Rag-Tag Supers who have chosen now, despite everything, to be Heroes.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to the superhero au that no one asked for! this is an ambitious project that started as a roleplay with my husband nick and turned into so much story that i had to write it down, there was absolutely no escaping it. this is also the fic that i'm going to be using during NaNoWriMo in november to try and hit my 50k word goal, so, hopefully you'll be seeing a lot of it over the next month or so! 
> 
> either way, a lot of love has gone into this story, and i hope you guys enjoy it! 
> 
> this particular bit is just a small prologue chapter to introduce a little of the world and a couple of rag-tag vogue elves who will end up playing really important parts in the story later. the next chapter will probably go up during the first week of November, as long as everything goes the way i have planned!

It was just after midnight during a routine shift at the gas station. The cashier, a young man who appeared to be in his early twenties, was knelt behind the counter checking his phone which was plugged in and hidden behind the register. When he finished, he straightened up, and jerked in surprise at the sight of someone leaned on the counter looking at right him.

An elf. A brightly colored, thin, and bored looking elf woman.

Where did she come from? The door chime hadn’t gone off… had it? He didn’t hear it? Was he just paying _that_ little attention?

He blinked, taking her in as he stammered through his usual customer service script, “U-uh-- Sorry about that. How can I help you?”

She twirled a thin finger in voluminous curled magenta hair as she replied, “Oh, I just wondered, um… I reaaaally super duper want a Slurpee, but I don’t really know how to work the machine… can you help me?” Glossy lips pouted as she looked down in shame, the hand that had been in her hair previously tucked now in the pocket of her much-too-large for her thin frame hoodie.

Lashy eyes blinked up at him, and he realized as she angled her head in inquiry and the curls covering one eye moved that she was staring at him pathetically with one golden eye, and one dark blue eye, and not just that, she was… fuckin lavender? Her skin was straight up purple? A purple elf? He’d seen a lot of elves come in and out in many different shades and shapes but never one so… _pastel_ as the one giving him boo-boo eyes right now.

It was a lot to take in, she was a lot to take in, and he realized with a start that he was staring at her and not responding and probably seemed super rude, at that--

“Uh, s-sure- yeah, I gotcha, sorry again--”

“Oh, don’t you even worry about it, sweetie,” the elf girl lilted, drumming perfectly manicured, sparkly, clawed nails on the counter, “you gotta check that social media _sometime~_ ”

Not super keen on admitting that he wasn’t checking social media, he was checking Clash of Clans, he sheepishly nodded in agreement, “Uh, yeah, um… so, you, want help with the drink machine, right?”

Now that he was done taking her in, and the odd, out-of-placeness of her, he realized that she was actually prettycute. He stepped around the counter and she followed, heeled booties clicking on the floor as she trailed along after him to the Slurpee machine.

“Mhm, I’ve never had one~ I don’t really want to mess it up.” She sounded pathetic, like it was incredibly embarrassing to admit, and as she spoke, she scuffed her toe on the ground.

He paused, glancing back and forth between the machine and her, “I mean, I… It’s not really… _hard_?”

He realized suddenly that she looked affronted at his words, and she’d lowered her head to avert her gaze, “I… I know it’s probably not. You just seemed like you’d be willing to help me, and um… I just wanted to talk to you a little, that’s all...”

Woah, she wanted to _talk_ to him? “Uh- No no, sorry, I-- let me help you, okay? I gotcha, no problem,  what kind do you want?” He turned toward the machine then, grabbing up a large cup as he spoke.

As soon as he turned his back to the front door, the elf girl jerked her head back and violently motioned toward the entrance. After a moment, the door slid open, but the door chime once again made no noise as another elf slipped inside.

A tall, thin elven man, just as brightly colored as she, with the same lavender skin, the same dual colored eyes, but instead of voluminous pink hair, he had sleek, chin length teal hair. He tugged the backpack, the obviously _empty_ backpack, he had slung over his shoulder forward, and headed straight for the now abandoned counter.

He hopped over easily, and began to prowl the tobacco shelf.

" _Pineapple--”_ She hissed, _“Piiiineaaaappleeeee--”_

“Uh, what flavor?” The sales clerk asked.

“Oh, um--”

“We don’t have pineapp--”

“Cherry! I, I mean, the red one is cherry, right? I think I’d really like that one~” She leaned forward toward him, a cute giggle trailing her rushed statement.

He glanced up at the big, spinning drum of frozen drink, wondering slightly at the obvious cartoon cherry shaped logo on it, “Yeah… yeah, I think it’s cherry.”

“Oooo, wonderful~ Cherry, I’d just adore a cherry slurpee~ But, I wonder, if it’s not too much trouble, big guy, could I taste it first, just to see if I really like it?”

He’d never seen someone be so fuckin’... particular about some cheap, artificially flavored ice drink, but here he was, pouring a small sample of the cherry Slurpee onto a lid for her to tentatively try, ‘big guy’ echoing in the back of his mind as he obliged.

Meanwhile, the elf who had slunk behind the counter was stuffing cigarillos, pineapple cigarillos specifically, into the open designer bag in front of him. He snagged a few more flavors, a couple of packs of the most expensive, uppity cigarettes they carried, and then threw himself back over the counter and beelined for the snack aisle.

“Mm~ That’s pretty good, huh? I think I really do like the cherry,” she popped her lips, licking the red syrup from them as she spoke, “Are the other flavors just as good~?”

“Um, they’re okay, not, like, the best but… I don’t really drink this stuff that much, even though we do get it it free.”

“Oh, free~ That must be nice~ I didn’t realize you guys had perks to go with the job, I mean, I guess there’s gotta be _some_ kind of reward, it must sorta suck, sitting here all by yourself all night,” she smiled innocently enough, before wafting a slender hand toward the cherry drink, “I’ll have one of those, I think~”

“Okay, I gotcha. I gotcha. One cherry coming up—“

“I knew I could count on you~” She leaned a bit closer, presumably to watch, and slid a hand onto his arm. She was just close enough for him to smell the fruity perfume of her hair.

That was, until she got hit in the back by something. Not betraying her surprise, she subtly glanced back to see her companion holding up two different packs of gummies.

“ _Lydia—“_ He mouthed, “Which ones?”

“That amount of slush look good to you?” The cashier asked, a little pitch to his voice at Lydia’s growing invasion of his personal space.

“Oh, um,” she glanced back at him, “actually, oh gosh, I’m so sorry, I should have said something, I was wondering, I kinda want to try the cola flavor too, could, uh, could I get _both?”_ a pointed hand wave, “Yeah, could I get _both_ in one cup~?”

You know, she was cute, but God she was getting annoying.

“Yeah- yeah, sure, let me just pour some of this out,” he grunted between his teeth, dumping some of the red slush down the drain.

“You are such an angel~” Lydia crooned, practically hanging off of his arm now, ignoring pointedly the disgusted look that her partner in crime had on his face as he stuffed several cans of beer in the backpack, which was now to the point that anything else would prevent it from zipping.

Lydia chanced a glance backward, and after dramatically dry heaving, he jerked his head toward the door to signal he was done and that they needed to bounce. Now.

“Alright,” the cashier finally brandished the finished slurpee, a mish mash of brown and red slush, “look good to you?”

“Knocked it out, tiger, thanks so much for helping me out in my time of need,” Lydia took a tentative sip of the drink and her eyes practically sparkled at the taste, “It’s perfect~ Thank you so so so much!”

It would have been cute five minutes ago. For some reason, the longer he looked at her, the longer he heard her voice, the longer she was in his presence the more intolerable she became. A voice in the back of his mind said that he’d had enough of her, now, of humoring her.

And so he abruptly was inclined to turn away, back toward the counter.

Panic struck both Lydia and her brother, the elf who was steps away from making it out the door, at once.

And as he turned, the cashier saw no one. The store was empty. Completely empty. Lydia’s hands were outstretched near him, which was weird, and he raised a brow at the strange sight, but he only shook his head as he moved to get away from her.

“Go-- _go go go!_ ” Lydia hissed, and as she did, the cashier glanced back at her.

“What--”

He took another step forward and realized that the automatic door to the store, which had been closed right before he took a step, was now _closing_ , when just a split second ago, it had _been completely_ closed. The cashier blinked in surprise, hesitating, staring at the door as if he’d just seen a ghost or something.

“Anyway, it’s been real, you have a great night, uh,” Lydia leaned to the side and glanced at his name badge, “uh, Paul, you -- you’ve been wonderful, listen, I’ll call the store manager and give you a great review!”

And as quickly and quietly as she had entered, she was gone. The door chimed as a flurry of bright pink hair darted out and away.

Paul stood in the store, flabbergasted, processing everything that just happened in the best way he could, which wasn’t all that great, honestly. All of a sudden it hit him, as he stood in front of the drink machine, Lydia’s taste test lid still sitting on the counter, that she didn’t fuckin’ pay for the Slurpee

“H-hey-- fuck!” He darted to the door and out, “Wait a second! You didn’t buy that! You have to pay for it!”

He realized that two elves now were staring over their shoulders at him, two strikingly similar and yet very different elves, who both shared a wild giggle as they darted off into the street and away.

“Ohoh, Edward almost got busssss-ted~” Lydia giggled as she took a celebratory drink of her hard earned slurpee after they were safely far enough away to quit running.

“Eugh,” Edward stuck his tongue out, casting Lydia a disgusted expression, “I’m sorry, let me just… can I just… ‘ _You are such an angel~,’_ really, Lyds, you about gave me away right there, because I nearly barfed.”

“What!?” Affronted, she slapped his shoulder, “Stuff it! You’re the one who told _me_ to do the distracting, and _you_ would do the stealing!”

“Well, I didn’t think that you distracting someone was going to turn into a fuckin’ clumsy lesbian mating dance. I _hate_ listening to you flirt with guys!”

“ _U_ _gh.”_

“It was a tuh-rain wreck, Lydia! I can’t believe he went along with it as long as he did! You useless lesbian.” Edward scoffed and reached for the slurpee in Lydia’s hands, “Give me a drink.”

“Um! Fuck off! No way! I worked hard for this,” she jerked the drink away and pouted, “anyway, it’s not _my_ fault men are easy! All you gotta do is pout a little and act clueless and they give you whatever you want-”

“-- _act clueless?_ \--”

“Ugh, I hate youuuu!” Lydia looked half-tempted to fling her hard-earned drink at her brother, who seemed unbothered, which was even more annoying.

“I see what you’re thinking, but you wouldn’t dare,” he placed a hand on his chest in show, “this jumpsuit is Gucci and worth waaaaaaay more than you.”

“Yeah, and you didn’t fuckin’ pay for it, so keep talking, butthole, and you’ll be the first to model their new Cherry-Cola line in like five seconds.” Lydia huffed and took another drink, “Besides, if I hadn’t used my power field when I did, this would have turned out a whole lot differently, so whatever.”

“Mhm, well, if he weren’t getting so sick of your shit he wouldn’t have walked away from you,” Edward reached again for the drink, and once again, she pulled away, “I’m serious, give me a driiiiiiink.” He was reaching peak levels of whiny now, so finally, Lydia relented and handed the Slurpee over.

“I actually dunno what happened there, honestly,” she mused, “it seemed fine and then suddenly, poof, he was looking at me like yesterday’s trash and one hundred percent over it.”

“Well, we just so happen to be _today’s_ trash, so whatever.”

But the way Edward said it resonated with a much more serious tone than the lightheartedness of their conversation before.

Neither of them spoke for a moment, walking in complete silence. After a stretch, Lydia rested her head on Edward’s shoulder as they made their way into the city.

They were both used to it, to the strange treatment. They were always too much. Too over the top. Too loud. Too obnoxious. Too annoying. No one stuck around long and no one gave them more than a passing glance in this city, the city they had called home for years now.

Neverwinter’s skyscrapers and night lights looked practically dim and dreary next to their own individual brightness as they wandered the city, heading somewhere and nowhere all at the same time. It was late now, past midnight, yet traffic still whooshed by, the city still living and breathing around them, yet Edward and Lydia seemed to be in their own world.

“You got me the pineapple cigarillos, right? I couldn’t see.” Lydia finally spoke after a while, breaking the comfortable, but somewhat heavy silence between them.

“Of course, yeah, I dunno why you wanted them though,” Edward glanced over, “we don’t really have anything to smoke in them.”

Lydia shrugged, “That’s tomorrow night’s plan, duh. We sneak out, we restock, we smoke a couple blunts, then we go crash somewhere for a while.”

“Huh. Okay, sure, we-- are we going to _rob_ someone again or, like..?” Edward lifted a brow, “We keep swindling our dealers we’re, uh… not going to have anyone left to deal.”

“No no, I have a little bit of money, no biggy,” Lydia seemed like she meant it, though Edward did wonder vaguely to himself how that could be when they were both always broke as a joke and absolutely unemployed.

The two meandered deeper through the city, their small talk loud and obnoxious through now quiet alleyways and dark streets. Eventually, the two of them reached a large building nearly in the heart of Neverwinter. It was a brick and a very bleak addition to the surroundings. The windows, which were mostly dark, with a few illuminated panels here and there, were all barred with iron from the outside.

It looked like a prison, but to them, to Edward and Lydia, it was home.

Edward punched in a code on a keypad near a side entrance, Lydia behind him casting furtive looks around their surroundings. There was no one around, of course, but the two were on edge as the steel door unlatched and slid open to grant them entrance.

They ducked inside, seemingly safe, but as soon as they crossed the threshold, as soon as the door slid shut behind them, a loud slamming noise jerked them into attention. Like a couple of cats, they scattered back, hair on the backs of their necks standing as an orc woman stared them down, anger clearly written on her features.

“Oh-” shit of course, “Uh, hi there, Killian, _darling_ \--” Lydia began, but she was interrupted by her hand hitting the wall again.

“Don’t start with me,” Killian began, lowering her hand, only to brandish it forward at the two of them, which caused them to stumble back in fright, “Don’t even-- don’t even go there, I can’t believe you two, you-- Do you even _think_ about the shit that you do? About the bad image you’re giving all of us?”

“L-listen--” Edward started, but Killian’s hand jerked forward again, the her palm now alight with a violent blue glow, effectively silencing him.

“I don’t want to hear it. You’re late, _again_ , you broke curfew, _again_ , you were out _stealing, again_ … Why do you two bottom feeders keep insisting on making us all look bad, don’t we have it hard enough? We’re here to try and make Supers look _better,_ not give people more reason to hate us!”

“C-calm down-- Killian, listen, we didn’t get _caught,_ is the thing, and-- we didn’t even really use our powers, we--” Lydia squeaked as Killian pointed her hand at her now.

“It doesn’t matter. It literally doesn’t matter! You’re both out here doing petty crimes while the rest of us are doing our best to follow orders, to make the city of Neverwinter a better place, to clean out the trash and make people respect and believe in us again and--”

“Everything alright here?” A man’s voice stopped Killian in her tracks, and all three of them looked up to see a security guard approaching causally from a side hallway, arms crossed on his chest as he gave them a severe, but patient look.

“Yeah, we’re totally good, Avi,” Killian remarked, smugly side-eyeing Edward and Lydia, who both glanced between the two of them now, obviously searching for an escape route, which woefully didn’t exist.

“Okay, great!” Avi sounded cheerful enough as he patted Killian on the shoulder and wandered over, eyeing Edward and Lydia in a contemplative manner, “Then you don’t mind if I take over, huh? You should be getting to bed, dunno why you’d wait up like this… you know I got it taken care of.”

“Y-yeah,” Edward piped up, “He’s head of security, after all, shouldn’t you, you know, _stay in your lane_ , Killian?”

Killian shot him a look, and Avi squeezed her shoulder, “Guys, do you really want to duke it out right here? ‘Cause, like, legalities and all, I think I’m not allowed to let you do that. So maybe don’t antagonize each other?” He paused, then gave Killian a genial look, “I appreciate you keeping an eye on things, but I already knew they were breaking curfew. I was just waiting for their number to come up on the keypad, that’s all.”

He released her shoulder and she grumbled, and she glared, and she scowled, “They’re not gonna stop until someone puts their foot down. Whether it’s yours or mine doesn’t mean much to me. But I’m tired of it, so handle it, Avi. Or I will.”

With that last warning, Killian rolled her shoulders and walked away, grumbling under her breath as she did.

“There we go, dodged that bullet, huh?” Avi glanced at Edward and Lydia, who finally relaxed a little as Killian vanished around the corner and back toward the living quarters, “So, let’s walk, let’s talk. You can tell me about why you’re out breaking the rules, again.”

Oh, they were still in trouble, huh? Edward and Lydia glanced at each other, clearing their throats as they took up stride behind Avi as he, himself, headed down toward the dormitories.

As he walked, Avi unscrewed a flask on his hip and took a long drink, which caused the two of them to tense up again.

“Does he think he’s going to have to use his powers..?” Lydia hissed to Edward, who shrugged, albeit tensely.

“I-- uh… I hope not… um, Avi-- we--” Edward began.

“I’m not gonna use my powers, just sort of have a headache, that’s all.” The implication was that the two of them were giving him a headache, which caused them to hunker together a little closer as they trailed after.

Eventually, Lydia spoke up, “Um… we… you’re not going to tell J--”

“I’m not planning on it, but I’m really going to need some compelling reason not to.” Avi stopped outside the door to Edward and Lydia’s quarters and turned to face them, waiting.

“Please-- we, we’re sorry, we… um, we just…” Edward was fumbling, and without warning he reached around behind himself and pulled a can of beer out of his bag of spoils and offered it, “Listen, let’s just sweep this under the rug, huh? Just, pretend this little mishap didn’t happen--”

Avi’s brows lifted, eyes darting between the offered beer and Edward’s panicked face, and then he laughed, a booming, genial laugh, “Oh boy! Edward, are you trying to bribe me with stolen beer? Listen, I’m honestly sort of more of a liquor guy, also that’s absolutely contraband, so I’ll pass.”

Edward lowered the can in defeat and gave Lydia a helpless look, as if that had been his last plan and he had nothing else to offer.

Lydia stepped up, fingers twisting into each other beneath her chin, “Avi, we really are sorry. We, we don’t want to cause you trouble, we just… it’s sort of…um…”

“In your nature?” Avi questioned, and Lydia bashfully nodded.

He considered that for a moment before shaking his head, “I know you two are better than that. You have to be… that’s why we’re all here, you know?”

Edward and Lydia hung their heads at the ashamed tone of his voice.

And where Avi’s demeanor had been easy before, calm and patient and almost friendly, it was slowly becoming less so the longer he looked at them, talked to them, “We’re here to try and give Supers a good name again. You remember the chaos before we were all brought here? You remember all of the trouble, the terrible reputation people like us, gifted people, people with powers, people with talents, had before John took us under his wing?”

When Edward and Lydia didn’t reply, he turned to the side and continued, “We’re all here because he allows us to be. He’s trying to do right by us, to make Neverwinter great, to erase the damage we caused. We’re here to work for him, we’re here to do what he asks, and in return he only asks that we do the right thing, and do you think going out and pillaging gas stations and robbing people and getting trashed is the right thing?”

“We know,” Edward finally spoke, “we shouldn’t take him for granted.”

“You shouldn’t. None of us should. He’s going to make this world a better place. And we all have to help him do that… so, can you promise me you’ll stop sneaking out? Can you promise me you’ll do your best to follow orders, to keep out of trouble?”

“We promise,” Lydia piped up, stepping toward Avi, “We-- we do, we’ll do better, okay? Just-- please, don’t tell him we snuck out.”

“I won’t, but, listen… Lydia,” he pointed at her, “Edward,” and at him, “eventually, it’s not going to matter. _We are One_. You would do well to remember that, alright? We’ve got to take care of business and we’ve got to take care of each other, too.”

When neither of them responded again, Avi sighed, “Now, go on, get in your room. Don’t let me catch you sneaking out again. And, for the love of the Gods, don’t flash stolen beer at me again, okay?”

“Okay, yeah, sort of, sort of not my best idea there, huh?” Edward chuckled nervously, and was already hastily unlocking the door to their room.

“No, can’t say it was, my man.” Avi clapped Edward’s shoulder, and he seemed to freeze up a bit at the sudden physical contact, before darting into the room and slamming the door behind him.

“ _Hey!_ Asshole!” Lydia yelped, grabbing the doorknob herself and throwing it open to dart in after her brother, “Okay, goodnight, Avi! Sorry again! We’ll be good! Promise!”

“I really really hope so.” Avi mused as Lydia’s pink hair vanished behind the closing door.

He stood there for a second, wondering at himself, at how quickly he lost his normal patience for them… it was unlike him, he could tolerate pretty much anyone, but something about those elves rubbed him the wrong way. But instead of mulling over it, he shrugged it off, a sigh escaping him as he wandered away to do one last patrol of the compound before turning in for the night, himself.

Edward collapsed on one of the two small beds in their tiny shared space, “Ugh,” he tossed the backpack to the side, “Y’know, he’s lucky he’s cute!”

“Is _that_ why you slammed the fucking door in my face?” Lydia hissed, snatching up a pack of gummies from the open bag and throwing herself onto her bed, pushing aside the gauzy canopy she’d haphazardly attached to the ceiling, “And you tell me _I’m_ the useless one.”

As she tore open the corner of the bag with her teeth to dig in, Edward seemed to fight through a retort before giving up and flopping backward.

And while they sat there in silence for a moment, staring up at the fairy lights strung across their ceiling, they both came to the realization that they had been struggling to reach the entire time they were being questioned by both Killian and Avi; They didn’t know _why_ they snuck out.

It wasn’t like they didn’t want to obey orders. They wanted to please John, of course they did, they _all_ did. It wasn’t a question of hows and whys, it was only that they did, absolutely and completely, want to do everything he asked them to do… and yet, they still had these urges, these wild impulses to go out and to be _naughty._

Lydia sighed, lowering her gummies, “We gotta… We gotta do better. He’s gonna be pissed. We’re gonna get punished… _Again._ ”

“I know, I know...” Edward rolled over onto his stomach to face her, “We’re dumbasses.”

“I mean, yes,” Lydia paused, “but, like, we’re also smarter than this, too…”

“Mm.” Edward hummed noncommittally.

And as the two of them lay in their small room, chatting away the hours, the night outside their barred window passed them by.

The City of Neverwinter towered around the concrete building that Edward and Lydia called home, that countless other Supers called home. It was their safe haven, it was their gift from their leader, from the leader of Neverwinter, from John, who wanted to turn everything around for them.

John who brought order to a chaotic world. John who turned Neverwinter from a place of violence and trouble and danger to a City worth living in, who did it all to take care of them, to make them safe and make them strong and did it all for _them._

The sky was muddled with darkness, the stars hidden away by a cast of grey, but there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky.

The darkness of Neverwinter was so normal that no one missed them now, anyway.


	2. The Reaper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A group of seven heroes take on a dangerous foe, The Reaper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhhhh enjoy the chaos that is me trying to write a battle scene haha. this chapter introduces the main seven characters, some of their powers, and leaves a little carnage in its wake. i hope y'dig it!

Miles away, underneath the same bleak sky, a battle raged on.

In a clearing on the outskirts of Neverwinter, seven rag-tag masked heroes stood their ground against a cloaked, monstrous foe.

A violent, orange swirl of fire burst from the ground and into the air.

Burning brilliantly against the dismal gray of the night, a masked elven woman hovered, glowing a bright white, within a wreath of fire. It coated her and her surroundings in a flickering glow, but brought with it a heat so oppressive it withered and charred the grass around her feet as she used the heat to bend the very air around her and hold herself in the air.

She was pursued. Blending into the inky darkness, a cloaked figure darted after her as she flew higher and higher off of the ground.

“No you fuckin’ don’t~” She crooned, spinning, and as she did she volleyed several shots at her attacker from the flames that coated her.

The cloaked figure dodged this way and that, using a large scythe held in skeletal hands to parry the fireballs, gaining quick ground on her airborne retreat.

She spun away from her assailant amidst the whoosh of metal cleaving through the air. A scythe swing narrowly missed her, and as she continued to retreat, the phantom pursuing her continued to swing, each slice growing closer and closer to her retreat.

Growing frustrated, and unable to maintain her distance, she curled her arms into her chest and with a surge of built up power exploded flames outward from her form.

The phantom was blown back by the heat.

\-- and then vanished.

“Shit!” Frustrated and uncertain, she spun around in the air, pushing herself higher with the heat of her body.

_“Watch it!”_

The sound of metal striking a hard surface reverberated around her, so loud her hands flew up to cover her ears. The spectral creature slammed its scythe down again in rage, striking a pink, pearlescent shield, which protected the elven woman in a sturdy bubble.

One of her companions on the ground, a masked, young black woman, had her hands in the air, expression contorted in pain at the second strike to the protective shield she had cast. As the blade hit, and as the bubble fully closed around her teammate the flames that held her aloft were cut off from precious oxygen. Thusly, they faltered and she fell from the sky.

“Fuck! Let me ouuuut!”

She braced for impact, curling on herself in the bubble, but that impact didn’t come. Instead the pearly sphere was caught on a soft surface. She opened her eyes and saw nothing but thick green, the tendrils of a plant cushioning her fall as they delicately placed her upon the ground.

“Ya good!?” An older, dwarven man came bounding toward her, waving his hands rapidly to clear the conglomeration of vines from around the shield.

“Yes, well, actually I’d be doing a smidge better if I weren’t in this fuckin’ thing! C’mon! Let me out now!” She pressed her hands on the shell, leaning forward desperately.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the woman who cast the shield pressed an affronted hand into her chest, “next time I’ll just allow him to _cleave you in half._ ”

“Incoming!” A large, burly human man rushed toward the now smouldering elven woman in her bubble prison, and with a deft motion he grabbed it up. He bounced the bubble between his palms in the air like a child’s toy, laughing boisterously as he did so, jostling the ever growing frustrated elf woman that happened to woefully be trapped inside.

“Woah-- woah! Fuck off, guys, this-this sucks!” She fumbled to right herself in the shield shell, but it was a fruitless effort.

The laughter dancing in his throat ceased. His expression changed to serious much too suddenly for her liking, and he jerked his head up at the sight of the spectral monstrosity zooming at them from above, the skull hidden in the layers of cloak burning with a bright red gaze as it swooped.

In response, he planted his feet firmly into the ground and rolled his shoulders, hefting the bubble and its captive into a ready position.

“Thiiiiiiiink fast, punk!”

And with that bold and overly cheerful proclamation, he reeled back and launched the bubble at the approaching enemy.

“Oh my God, how many times do we have to talk about _throwing your teammates!?_ ” A gnome man snapped as he whizzed by, easily matching a running pace with the thrown bubble as it flew through the air.

At first it was one gnome. Then it was two. Then three, then four, then five. They flanked the bubble and charged.

“But I’m so  _good_ at throwing things!” The human man proclaimed, which caused all five of the speeding gnomes to groan in unison.

The spectral monster rushing at them halted in its tracks at the sight rushing toward it; an enraged looking elven woman in a big pink bubble flanked by a bunch of identical gnomes.

Without warning, the bubble around the woman burst, and a wild smile flashed onto her face as she realized she was free, “Okay, here we go! Eat this, dickbag!”

Flames roared to life on her body as she righted herself in the air, and with that burst of flames, she slammed right into the enemy’s form head on.

And right behind her were those five gnomes, which took a leap at the fumbling reaper’s limbs, tendrils of black burning away with the fire that licked the air around them.

Unsure of where to strike, a scythe whipped through the air and at the multiplied gnomes, which fumbled at the swing and vanished into thin air. A skeletal face whipped to the side before being nailed by the small foot of the one corporeal gnome, which slammed into it and then flipped backward and darted away.

Before the cloaked figure had any time to react, another volley of fire slammed into it, and it reeled back again with a guttural roar of frustration.

The elven woman, still coated in fire, grinned wickedly from a few yards away, blew on a smouldering fingergun, “Want some more, Mr. Reaper? I’ve got plenty to spare.”

The Reaper blinked in and out of view, and she remained steadfast, flames licking the ground around herself as she braced for his attack.

But the moment he began to lunge, he was stricken from behind. Snarling, he spun around, realizing quickly that whatever was attacking him was hanging limply from his back. He shifted, his entire form becoming translucent, and jerked away from a skeleton that had been tearing into his cloak, which fell through him and rattled uselessly to the ground.

He whipped toward the elf woman again, shifting back into a corporeal form, scythe brandished, only to fumble once more as another skeleton lurched out of the ground beneath him and threw itself onto the handle of his weapon, bony hands grabbing at his skeletal face, pulling and tearing.

And in that moment of distraction, more shots of fire railed into him from the side, burning away more and more whisps of his semi-corporeal form as they did so. And then another ridiculously fast kick slammed into the back of his head, knocking him forward into the skeleton’s grasps.

Another roar of rage escaped him as he swung his scythe back around himself, flinging the skeleton away, sending it crashing after the gnome that darted away so quickly he could hardly be seen, flickering in and out as he leapt from spot to spot.

A few yards away, far from the action, stood another human man. A cloaked and masked man, who was stout, middle-aged, who clumsily wore glasses over the mask tied around his head, and looked quite comically as if he didn’t belong there... When he realized he’d been spotted and zeroed in upon, his expression shifted from stunned to terrified.

“Woah woah, shit, no no no!” He yelped, lifting his hands, which were fading to transparent in his own attempt to go incorporeal. It was too late. The Reaper rushed toward him at lightning speed, ignoring the blasts of fire that repeatedly tore into his form from behind.

The human man fumbled as he fell backward in surprise. The Reaper lifted his scythe to swing, ruthlessly tearing it down through the air, only for it to crash into another pink shell.

Panting, the woman who had cast the shell from before had dashed closer to the fray, hands outstretched as she used that shield around her companion to forcefully push the Reaper away from his fallen form, effectively throwing him several feet away with surprising strength.

Enraged, the skeletal face of The Reaper turned toward the woman who in turn stared boldly into his burning, red eyes. He roared again, fanged mouth bore in rage as he swung his scythe at the ground once, twice, tearing through with white hot energy, leaving great gashes in the Earth in his wake before he lunged at her.

She readied herself, bold-faced and unafraid, planting her feet on the ground firmly with her hands still outstretched. With a flick of her wrists a glistening shield erupted around her, but as it did, the reaper vanished.

“Fuck--” She took a step back, whipping her hands to the side to shrink that shield around herself completely… but before she could finish, the reaper appeared right in front of her, blade a dangerous flash as he swung downward.

Several thick vines wrapped around her middle and she was unceremoniously flung away from the attack. Reflectively, she shattered her shell, and with nothing to catch her, she flew several feet away and landed on the ground in a heap, wheezing for breath that was knocked from her lungs at the impact. Almost immediately, she was surrounded by several other members of the team.

The Reaper was left standing over nothing, and he remained still for only a second before rounding with a guttural growl upon the old dwarven man from before.

“Awh… shit-- uh, hey big guy, sorry about that, no hard feelings, right?” His pleas were only halfhearted as he seemed to already begrudgingly accept his fate, and before his attacker could reach him, he was blocked by a swarm of twisting vines and plants bursting from the Earth.

But The Reaper was done playing games. Angered and violent and ruthless, he tore through the plants with his scythe, and as his blade cut through the greenery, the plants shrivelled and browned. As if they were in pain, in fear of his attacks, they writhed and twisted and curled away from him, withering into the ground.

The dwarf was fleeing, waddling as fast as he could away from the onslaught of plant carnage trailing behind him.

He’d almost caught him. He was too slow.

Right when The Reaper was about to strike, when he had no more ground to gain, when his prey was right before him, something new slammed into his face.

Something bony, something sharp, something with four paws and a tail-- A skeletal cat yowled and covered his vision, attacking the red, glowing eyes inside the depths of his skull. He roared again, grabbing the cat from his face and throwing it to the ground so hard it shattered into a million pieces.

“ _Charlie--_ ” The bespectacled human man from before lamented, but then jerked in surprise when The Reaper turned to face him once more.

But before he could even think about it, another clawed animal tore its talons into his skull-- a bird, great wings flapping against his head, screeched and grabbed at his empty eyesockets and pulled, jerking his head forward.

He jerked his head to the side, and the bird lost its grip, and then beat its wings in attempt to escape. But he wouldn’t, couldn’t allow that. He grabbed the bird by the leg and it screeched in protest as he swung it this way and that.

A lammergeier-- a great, fancy, ostentatious fucking  _buzzard_  beat its wings and thrashed against his grasp.

He slammed it into the ground. As soon as it hit the earth it crumpled, form changing, twisting into another elf, one who happened to be strikingly similar in appearance to the flaming elf woman several yards away, who yelled in rage at the sight of her twin collapsing onto the ground.

Flames burned into The Reaper’s side and face as she rushed forward, but he was steadfast, tearing his scythe down at the crumpled elf who abruptly in turn vanished into the grass, the end of a snake’s tail barely visible as it darted through the underbrush.

But he wouldn’t allow that. No, _no no no._ Spinning his scythe to buffet away the fire, he lunged after the retreating, transformed elf, and a clawed, skeletal hand found its target, grasping the thin, smooth body of a snake, which lashed out fangs that landed in nothing but the torn layers of his cape.

The gnome rushed toward them, but he brandished the snake at his and the twin elf’s approach, threatening to crush his thin form should any of them try to make it closer.

But the strongest of the group wouldn’t allow this. The human man who had tossed his teammate like a softball before rushed in once again, leaving behind his fallen comrade as his heavy footsteps pounded into the Earth.

He leapt, and with superhuman strength, he plowed into The Reaper, twisting his hand on the monster’s arm, snapping the bones as if they were toothpicks in his grasp. The snake fell to the ground, rolling, an elf once more. A low groan escaped him as he finally stopped rolling and slumped into the cool grass.

“Ooo, I’m out-- oh I’m so outski-- Not good-- that one wasn’t a good one--” He moaned.

His companion, however, did not escape.

The Reaper wouldn’t allow him to get any farther, and in that split second, the bare minimum of time it took for him to knock his prey out of his now broken arm, his free hand struck-- his scythe, the band of dangerous metal, tore into the human man’s side, and with that strike he was thrust away and toppled to the ground.

“No-- Mag-- _shit-_ no no no!” The gnome skid to halt at his side, “Oh _God--”_

He stumbled, and then he grabbed his own head, “No, it’s fine! I-I just gotta _rewind_ , I just gotta-- Shit, I can’t, Dav, I can’t rewind this--”

“You can’t, no, you-- you’re done. We’re done! We gotta go!” He called back to the elven woman who was still volleying shots of fire in rage, “Grab your brother!”

“I can still fight!” The crumpled human man snarled and got to his feet, the wound caused by the scythe burning a bright white on his side, “I can still kick his ass! Who cares if I don’t have my powers!? I can still _fight!_ ”

“You’re not doing anything, we’re done fighting, we gotta go--”

The crumpled human woman on the ground had, amidst the chaos, staggered to her feet.

“Get your brother.” She repeated her teammate’s words to the raging elf woman at her side, “Get your brother and then get ready-- I’m going to get us out of here, but I need you to do something for me.”

At first, her teammate acted as though she couldn’t hear, but an ear cocked toward her, even as she held the Reaper off with shots that increased in fury with each blast.

“Before you burn all of your energy, _get your brother._ ” She didn’t seem as though she wanted to repeat herself, “And then when I-- Listen, when I cast my next shield, fill it with fire.”

That got her attention. She glanced furtively at her companion, “But that’ll--”

“It doesn’t matter. Do it. I’m not giving you an option.” And with that, she fell back, motioning for the dwarf and gnome to follow her.

Hesitating still, the elven woman stared as the rest of the team retreated, and after that brief pause she sighed and ran to her brother, to her twin, who was still moaning on the ground.

“Turn into something small, Taako--” she hissed.

Begrudgingly, he did, a mouse now curled in the palms of her hands as she scooped him up.

The Reaper wasted no time. In the absence of Lup’s fire, he charged at her, flickering in and out.

And then he slammed into a bubble. A pink, pearlescent and now completely opaque bubble that surrounded him entirely, blocking out all sounds and sights, blocking an enraged swing of his scythe.

The Shieldmaiden gasped at the strike, pain twisting her features, “Lup! What are you waiting for?! Do it, _now!_ ”

“God, this fucking _sucks_ \--” Lup spat under her breath, but she did as she was told, as reluctant as she seemed to do it. With one wild cast of her arm, she set the inside of The Reaper’s prison ablaze.

_“Lucretia!”_

“Magnus, grab her!” Lup barked, and then she too ran, cradling the small, white mouse that was her brother to her chest as they fled the scene.

Magnus scooped Lucretia up by the waist as she stumbled and fell, overwhelmed with the pain of her shield being torn apart from the inside out not only by fire, but also by the raging attacks of a beast now held captive.

“Barry, come on!” The gnome snapped, but the bespectacled human was too busy desperately scooping up the bones of his crushed cat, “We have _got to go._ ”

“Y-yeah-- yeah, I know, I’m working on it-- I got it, I’m coming!” After stuffing the last piece, the cat’s skull, into his bag, he fumbled to his feet and ran after the retreating team.

Three humans, two elves, a dwarf and a gnome ran from the scene… in _defeat._

_..._

It took quite some time for the bubble to finally be destroyed. When it did, it shattered and shimmered into non existence, and the flames that filled it smoldered away into a cool night breeze.

On the ground where the bubble had been was knelt a dark-skinned man. He touched his face, felt his own arms, and cursed under his breath at the state of weakness he was left in.

“Bunch of pests.” He muttered under his breath, his voice a smooth, cockney drawl. He pushed himself to his feet, dusting ash off of his clothes, smoothing his dark hair.

But it was fine. He had been only briefly paused, not stopped completely. They’d escaped tonight, and it wasn’t certainly wasn’t unscathed. He flicked his wrist, and a book materialized in his hand. Casually, he thumbed through the pages, before finding his new entry on a fresh page.

In ornate text, a name had been written onto the pages, and as he regarded it, more writing appeared.

Magnus Burnsides: Superhuman strength, the ability to rewind 10 seconds of one’s own actions at the cost of vitality.

He tisked, shutting the book with a snap. Nothing particularly interesting, but a small victory, nonetheless.

And, as it so happened, not his only victory.

As he gathered himself and headed back toward the city, he thought about the face of the elf he’d thrown onto the ground. Wild eyed and panicked, when he transformed from vulture to elf once more, his mask had slid up his face. Just a touch. Just a smidge.

… Just enough for him to get a good, good look at him. His wide, bright, frightened eyes... the small, star beauty mark below his left eye surrounded by a splash of freckles over bronze skin.

Tonight, Kravitz had seen the face of his prey, and that simply meant that it was time for The Reaper to hunt.


End file.
